Ajax and Ruby On Rails is a new growth area on the Web and holds the promise of a Web UI which mimics a more conventional Windows style design pattern. I track this here along with the other industry movers and shakers, including Google.
Ruby on Rails Video Presentation
The Net: Where the Battle Lines Lie
I recall in 2000 when the browser wars were in full flight and Netscape finally succumbed to the might of Microsoft, it seemed almost inevitable that no-one could be beat mighty Microsoft. They had all but put down the Net revolution and were busily attempting to water down Java as a language by creating their own version of it and muddying the waters by having libraries which tied into the Microsoft thus making Java non-portable. It all seemed to be going so well for Microsoft but then, like all good stories there was a twist. Internet Explorer and Windows in general began to spring leaks like a ship that looked like it was cobbled together. Microsoft was attacked by hackers and machines shut themselves down and viruses respawned themselves from one PC to another. From my viewpoint, it was very much a case of the King having been shown to have no clothes. The sandbox approach which Java had could not let this type of hack happen but Windows had instead decided to kill off competition by having more features than them. The argument suddenly shifted from 'can it do A, B or C' to 'well is it secure?'. Meanwhile in the valley a small company called google, no doubt having looked on with interest and knew the story of Microsoft vs Netscape, more than likely wondered how they could stop the same fate befalling them. The answer came in a paradigm shift and it's this shift which is forming the new Web 2.0 architecture which is evolving before our very eyes. Personally, I like Web 2.0 becuase I can see products that use it and it makes sense to me. Unlike Service Based architectures as a concept, I can download a library and build a UI and do something new and cool like get a browser to do an Upload. However, the paradigm shift is not so much about technology but about the positioning of it. Web 2.0 is about moving application logic further into the Browsers. The so-called back-end servers are going to become lighter and more like XML gateways. The front-end is going to be more stateful breeding new applications like Fickr and Google Maps to name but a few. How can Microsoft cope with this? They can't. Their answer had been to tie the Browser into the MS Windows API and they had been hacked almost to pieces until they released patch after patch... The approach is now discredited in my opinion. All they can continue to do is milk the Microsoft Office cow until she is dry and hope that her own online strategy pays off. To a certain extent, Microsoft by trying to kill off all its competition in the early days and succeeding so effectively is a victim now of its own success. Microsoft to a certain extent reminds me of LOTR Sauran having held the ring of power and is now being forced to make alliances he'd rather not. Meanwhile the adventure continues for the Fellowship and the current Ring Holder Google in Middle Earth.
About three years ago, I purchased a Sony Cybershot DSC digital camera which I used to record diary entries. The digital camera has 1.3 Megapixels and has two modes. The first digital camera mode stores the pictures in a rough format and allows me to store over thirty minutes of recorded footage. The second digital camera mode allows me to get a high definition picture which is small but very viewable. Typically, it lasts about ten minutes before the memory on the Sony CyperShot DSC runs out. The digital camera uses the Sony CyberShot storage method. Back then it seemed like a big deal to keep my hard disk up to date with the latest digital camera footage. However, there are now new digital camera storage services like Google video and YouTube which will host your digital camer footage.
Clearly, in an environment like this it's becoming more possible for ordinary users to make tutorials of Ajax with a simple digital camera. On this page, I've included some footage shot from a recording device probably not a digital camera but with the progress in technology doubling every eighteen months, it may be possible for ordinary users to become publishers of their own data, rather than syndicators. This means a total flattening out of the hierarchies of publishing by means of the internet. So, in the near future, the humble digital camera could be producing high-tech productions. You can of course use a digital camcorder which in the short term would be a better option. Advances in the CCD technologies means a reduction in cost to the consumer whether it's a camera or a camcorder. One of the first pieces of footage I took with the digital camera was a trip to Mardid which I may later add to my travel blog.
